The Creighton Model System (CrMS) is a method of tracking a woman’s biological markers that are essential to her health and fertility. The CrMS is a standardized modification of the Billings Ovulation Method, and is well-grounded in scientific research. The CrMS was first described in 1980 and research has continued up until present day. The CrMS teaches a woman how to make observations throughout the normal routine of her day and how to chart the absence or characteristics of observed cervical mucus, her natural sign of infertility or fertility. Research has continued to the present day and has consistently shown that the observations made externally with the CrMS directly correlate with the hormonal changes occurring internally.
With just a few minutes of daily observations, a complete picture of her fertility and gynecologic health can be recorded, and the information gleaned can be used in a variety of ways depending on a woman or couple’s individual intentions and goals. The CrMS can be used effectively throughout a woman’s entire reproductive life. Breastfeeding and pre-menopausal women and women with continuous discharges find the CrMS to be especially helpful in determining true days of fertility and infertility.
Married couples of normal fertility can use the CrMS as an effective natural method of family planning. Charting with the CrMS gives a married couple an accurate picture of their days of fertility and infertility, and the couple is then able to make decisions regarding the achievement or avoidance of pregnancy based on that information.
In the June 1998 issue of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, a large use-effectiveness study of the CrMS revealed that this system has a method effectiveness (perfect use) of 99.5% and a use effectiveness (typical use) of 96.8% when used to avoid pregnancy. Likewise, when used to achieve pregnancy in couples of normal fertility, the effectiveness is 76% in the first cycle of use and 98% by the sixth cycle.
While the CrMS is an effective method of avoiding pregnancy, because it is also a method to achieve pregnancy, it is not a method of contraception/birth control. Contraception/birth control can only be used to avoid pregnancy. Even when the method is used to avoid pregnancy, it not a method of contraception/birth control because there is nothing put as a barrier (physically or chemically) that prevents pregnancy. Therefore the CrMS is a morally acceptable method of family planning for people of any faith tradition.
Married couples with subfertility can use the CrMS under the care and guidance of a specially-trained medical doctor or nurse practitioner (called a medical consultant) who is trained in the interpretation of the CrMS chart to help in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of underlying causes of the couples’ subfertility. The science by which this is accomplished is called NaProTECHNOLOGY® (Natural Procreative Technology) and is a way of investigating and treating underlying issues of subfertility with the goal of restoring normal functioning of a woman’s reproductive system. While the CrMS chart alone provides a lot of information about potential issues, medical consultants also use a woman’s chart to appropriately time tests and procedures for further investigation. Some of the techniques used by medical consultants include:
– Routine checking of 16 different hormone levels to uncover any imbalances
– Ultrasounds of ovaries to uncover any abnormalities in follicle development or ovulation
-Diagnostic and surgical laparoscopy (minimally invasive surgery) to uncover the presence of/remove endometriosis, pelvic adhesions, fallopian tube occlusions, and other physical abnormalities
Medical consultants view a woman’s fertility as a gift, not as a disease, and seek to restore health and cooperate with a woman’s body instead of overriding it to achieve pregnancy. With the help of NaProTECHNOLOGY®, couples with subfertility have up to an 80% success rate, depending on the underlying condition.
Adolescents and single women can use the CrMS to monitor their health and fertility and gain a deeper understanding of how their bodies work. Furthermore, with the help of a medical consultant a variety of conditions can be diagnosed and treated, without the use of the birth control pill, including: irregular or painful cycles, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), endometriosis, irregular or abnormal bleeding, polycystic ovarian disease, ovarian cysts, hormonal abnormalities, chronic discharges, and other health problems.
Advantages of the CrMS
- Standardized and objective
- One-on-one instruction
- Relatively inexpensive
- Can be used in conjunction with medical care to restore health
- Professional, medically safe, and reliable
- Monitors and maintains a woman’s health
- Versatile: usable at any stage of a woman’s reproductive life; useable with regular and irregular cycles, while breastfeeding, pre-menopausal, etc.
- Precise: identifies true days of fertility and infertility
- Daily awareness of fertility or infertility; not based on averages or past cycles
- Cooperates with a woman’s body
- Natural and morally acceptable
Why Couples Like It
- Values, respects, and understands a couple’s combined fertility
- Promotes shared responsibility between the spouses and encourages involvement of men for support and decision making
- Enhances couple sexuality and promotes marital bonding
- Strengthens marriages and families through increased communication and a multi-faceted approach to their sexual relationship
- Views fertility and children as gifts
Source: Creighton Model Use Effectiveness Study, Journal of Reproductive Medicine 1998; 43:495-502.